A Stronger Me
Shiraz Abdullah
Explain about the book in general:
The book I have written is a graphic novel series. This style goes by different names in different parts of the world. In the US, it’s called a graphic novel or comics; in Korea, it’s called manhua; and in Japan, it is called manga. The name might differ, but the content is similar in terms of storytelling in the form of illustrations and drawings.
My series’ style is most similar to that of Japanese manga, which is why I call it Kurdish Manga. If this type of book becomes popular, maybe we’ll come up with a new name for it!
In the world of this, anyone who goes through a traumatic experience grows an “Azar mark” on their body, and these people eventually turn into monsters if they don’t overcome their traumas.
The story’s main character, Nina, has lost her childhood memories – including how she got her Azar mark. She finds out that she has a lost brother and sets sail to find him, exploring different parts of Kurdistan and meeting many people.
The story explores these people and their individual journeys to find out how to become stronger people. The most fun part is that the story takes place completely in Kurdistan. That means that you can visit the places the story leads and experience Kurdish culture for yourself along with our characters!
How did I make it?
The story is something I thought about when I was much younger. It’s based on a question I often considered: “If there were physical evidence that someone was experiencing hardships in their life, how would others treat them?” This formed the foundation of my inquiry, and the answer is that people would indeed be treated differently if that were true.
Then another question arose: “What if this occurred universally? Would people react the same way – or would it become the new norm, and would people continue as if nothing had changed?”
This concept serves as the basis for the story. I’m eager to explore this idea in A Stronger Me and to arrive at my conclusion.
In our world, unlike the world of A Stronger Me, there are only small indications of the pain each of us carries. I hope that my readers will feel a little less alone while reading my book and develop a greater sense of understanding and compassion towards one another.
What inspires me:
The first initial push of inspiration I got to write my personal manga story was a documentary of Hayao Miyazaki working on Spirited Away. Watching him go through the stages of creating something so beautiful was fascinating. It was very grounding when I saw that he also went through the things I was experiencing. Seeing him go through the initial burst of coming up with ideas, getting into setbacks and slumps, then getting out of them, and finally making something exceptional gave me a lot of encouragement, because on a much smaller scale, I was also going through the same processes.
I remember being so encouraged by that documentary that I jumped to my desk and started developing my characters and my story.
Another thing that inspired me a lot when I was younger came from wanting to show off all the beautiful places and rich cultures we own. I remember I was having a stroll with my family near the Citadel. I was mesmerized by its beauty, as always. I was baffled about there not being more movies or shows taking place in there. I wondered – we have so many beautiful artifacts and a very rich history, so why don’t we glamorize it more? It felt like it was being taken for granted. If we don’t appreciate the good things, then all we have left is the bad.
That set a fire in me, and it still does. It’s the reason I will not give up on this story. I will show whoever reads this manga precisely why I love Kurdistan!
Now, some years older, I take inspiration from many things. I take inspiration from my family and friends, as people, how they interact with each other, how they understand and misunderstand each other. I take inspiration from a beautiful sunset behind the walls of my home city, I take it from the mountains, the rivers, the people, the culture, the music, the clothes, the art, the poetry, and the history. I am curious how they intertwine and weave together to make up the tapestry of this world.
In which part of the book do I exist as a writer?
This is an interesting question! I’ve never thought about it before. It’s a bit hard to tell because this is going to be a long series, and we will meet so many characters and places along the way. I have only published the first volume.
If I had to describe A Stronger Me as a dish, dolma perhaps, then I would be the salt tying the story together, because I put little parts of myself in the design and story. For example, Nina has curly hair like me, and her grandpa’s name is Waysi, which is like my great grandpa.
I think a part of the book I see myself in the most is how young this series is currently. This being the first volume of the whole series means there are a lot of things we don’t know and haven’t yet learned or experienced. We can only look forward to it when it comes. I am like that too, because there are still a lot of things that I lack and don’t know. I hope that with the growth of this series, I also grow to become a better and more knowledgeable person!
The impact I want to have on Kurdistan as a whole.
Being a young person in Kurdistan can be, unfortunately, harder than it is in many other places around the world. There are a lot of setbacks, and the future can seem dim and dark. It can feel frustrating, most of the time, not being sure if all your hard work is really worth it. Sometimes it might feel like it’s much easier to give up.
It deeply upsets me when I see this in our youth. I hope that through this book I can bring a little bit of hope back to our youth, no matter how small. I want to make my readers see that just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Just because you don’t see a clear tomorrow doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I want to show them that people can grow even in pain, and that giving up on yourself before trying is betraying yourself and what you are capable of.
I believe wholeheartedly that our youth are capable of way more than they give themselves credit for. I’m not a very strong person, but if this book can give some people hope, then that is good enough for me!
What caught my interest first, creating manga or creating manga for Kurdish people?
When I was first inspired to write and illustrate my story, I didn’t think it would involve Kurdistan. I don’t know why exactly—maybe because I didn’t see that here, and my mind didn’t think of it as a possibility.
However, the more I grew and got myself reintroduced to Kurdish culture, I felt more and more drawn into making it Kurdish and making the characters all be Kurdish, wearing Kurdish clothes and communicating how we do or did in the past. By doing this, the story became much easier to compose and more interesting to write. It felt like I was putting together parts of a puzzle. It was such an amazing, fascinating feeling, and that’s why I can never give up on this dream!
I need to show everyone why I fell in love with this story and why I must tell it.
